FaNtastic Kids is a fun,FREE 12-week after-school fitness and nutrition program for children between the ages of 8-12. FANtastic Kids is a fun, FREE 12-week after-school fitness and nutrition program for children between the ages of 8-12 who struggle with eating healthily and staying active . FANtastic Kids takes place at the following sites:
DotWell Program at Dorchester House Multi-Service Center
Mattapan Community Health Center
YMCA: Hyde Park, Huntington Ave., Oak Square, Dorchester, Roxbury

The next session begins February 7th and ends on May 11.
Don't miss it!!  Read more

The city of Boston says that the snow emergency that went into effect yesterday will be lifted at 6 p.m. on Monday. The emergency order means that parking is prohibited on all major arteries in Boston.

In a noon hour press conference on Sunday, Gov. Deval Patrick said that service on the Mattapan high-speed trolley line would be suspended tonight and replaced with buses. All other public transportation is expected to follow a normal schedule.

"Residents are reminded to remain at home throughout the duration of this snow event and businesses tomorrow should consider asking employees to work from home," stated a press release issued by the city of Boston on Sunday morning. The city also is cautioning older residents or those with "health conditions" to "refrain from shoveling this heavy wet snow."  Read more

Tina Chery: A pioneer in citywide efforts to curb violence, Chery's son Louis was killed in a December 1993 shooting, not far from her current office in Fields Corner..

The numbers are deeply disturbing: Nearly eighty percent of the shootings in Boston in 2010 have taken place in the three police districts that cover Dorchester, Roxbury, and Mattapan.

Last year, 223 people were killed or wounded by gunfire in Boston, and 174, or 78 percent, of the shootings took place in districts B-2, B-3 and C-11. This year, with several weeks to go, the number of shootings in the city has increased to 258, and, again, 78 percent of them were in these three districts.

The Search for Solutions

BPD Commissioner Ed Davis: Extra pressure on gang members

Rev. Eugene Rivers: Pastor convenes stakeholders, stresses "realism"

George Chip GreenidgeGeorge "Chip" Greenidge: Violent year spurs new calls for answers

Celeste Allan: Murder victim's mom finds community's embrace

Marivelle Crespo and Gina Patterson: BPD team aids families, heads off trouble

Tina Chery: Peace Pioneer seeks to improve coordination of services

Emmet Folgert: On alert for alternativesEmmett Folgert: Veteran youth worker connects teens with jobs

These stark numbers only convey part of the story. The real story, those on the front lines of the battle tell the Dorchester Reporter, is the impact this violence is having on those who live and work in these neighborhoods – and whether they will assert strongly to families, friends, and acquaintances that they will not tolerate the continued presence of guns or further criminal activity in the homes and on the streets of their neighborhoods. And, too, there is the overarching question of the role of the rest of Boston in this enterprise: Will they join Dorchester, Roxbury, and Mattapan – or abandon them – in taking on the challenge of saving the streets.  Read more

Fourteen would-be charter schools have applied to the State Department of Education to be granted charters to start up new schools in Boston out of 23 across the state. Representatives from several of the applicant schools appeared before a panel of state education officials in Boston City Hall on Tuesday to press their case.

Though plans for the schools are still in the preliminary stages and locations for school facilities are not definite, some of the proponents for the proposals heard Tuesday vowed to serve underprivileged students from Dorchester, Roxbury and Mattapan.  Read more